It's now notable when a case has no digital evidence to speak of.

The Washington Post published a long feature on Monday about a 65-year-old man whose murder remains the only unsolved killing in Montgomery County, Maryland. Police working on the case have noted a lack of evidence they are now used to relying on: the digital footprint created by our text messages, e-mails, and social media accounts. Often times, this type of evidence can present a different and sometimes more detailed perspective on a victim.

The man in question, Philip Welsh, was beaten to death in his own home in February. The police suspect it was not a random crime, but they're lacking in leads. Welsh led a staunchly technologically ascetic life, with no computer or cell phone to his name. His technology included an answering machine, a Smith-Corona typewriter, and a CRT TV with built-in VCR and DVD players, according to The Post.

While violent crimes don't always turn on digital evidence, Captain Marcus Jones, commander of Montgomery County's major crimes division, told the paper that "those records usually help." It's often younger suspects and victims who let their conflicts play out so plainly through digital means, like a 16-year-old girl who literally stabbed her friend in the back after a Facebook argument or one 22-year-old man who posted cryptic status updates moments before murdering his baby daughter. It's not just millennials who do this though: a 31-year-old man posted photos of his murdered wife on Facebook, and text messages were featured in the Pistorius and Trayvon Martin murder trials.

Welsh's body was discovered the morning after he was killed, and police note that they are lacking leads not only in digital evidence, but in physical or anecdotal evidence as well. The investigation remains ongoing.

64 Reader Comments

"Welsh led a staunchly technologically ascetic life, with no computer or cell phone to his name. His technology included an answering machine, a Smith-Corona typewriter, and a CRT TV with built-in VCR and DVD players"

From the sound of it, "lacking leads not only in digital evidence, but in physical or anecdotal evidence as well," his murder would be a hard case even before there was digital evidence to exist. They do not even have anecdotal evidence to guess at what happened.

If there is no physical evidence from the perpetrator, this will be a difficult case to solve and get a conviction. The investigators will be relying on the stupidity of the perpetrator to convict themselves by bragging on Facebook, etc.

The lack of digital information about the victim makes it harder to reconstruct his movements in the day(s) before his murder. But since most people follow the same habits that is not impossible to reconstruct. Assuming he was found at the crime scene the valuable digital footprint is the perpetrator's such as phone location information.

Maybe the detectives should watch some Law and Order seasons 1-6ish. Might pick up some tricks on how to catch people without modern digital evidence. Its interesting to watch such a long running show in order. You can see new tech being used about as it came out.

That picture looks like it is incorrectly dated. From what I can see, it looks like that is very plainly Windows XP running on the computer behind him with the infamous blue taskbar, along with the open window having the blue window frame, red X close button, and related UI controls. Since XP wasn't released until 2001, I don't think that picture was taken in 1998.

Amusing that for some of us at least problem will be not that there is no digital info but rather that getting it (linking info to person) will require breaking high-grade encryption Makes me ponder what would be a good mechanism to automatically reveal a few key passwords to family and friends in the event I die.

EDIT: for a moment I thought situation would be no different than for this man - until I realized that cell phone tower data and call history would still be available.

That picture looks like it is incorrectly dated. From what I can see, it looks like that is very plainly Windows XP running on the computer behind him with the infamous blue taskbar, along with the open window having the blue window frame, red X close button, and related UI controls. Since XP wasn't released until 2001, I don't think that picture was taken in 1998.

It is incorrectly dated. The linked to article from the Washington Post has the caption, "Welsh at work for Barwood Taxi in 2009".

That picture looks like it is incorrectly dated. From what I can see, it looks like that is very plainly Windows XP running on the computer behind him with the infamous blue taskbar, along with the open window having the blue window frame, red X close button, and related UI controls. Since XP wasn't released until 2001, I don't think that picture was taken in 1998.

Excellent eye! If you click through the source for the picture, the caption on the original site reads, "Welsh at work for Barwood Taxi in 2009. (Courtesy of Barwood Taxi)"

That picture looks like it is incorrectly dated. From what I can see, it looks like that is very plainly Windows XP running on the computer behind him with the infamous blue taskbar, along with the open window having the blue window frame, red X close button, and related UI controls. Since XP wasn't released until 2001, I don't think that picture was taken in 1998.

It is incorrectly dated. The linked to article from the Washington Post has the caption, "Welsh at work for Barwood Taxi in 2009".

... and I was typing so furiously quickly, too, just to be beaten after the post.

Amusing that for some of us at least problem will be not that there is no digital info but rather that getting it (linking info to person) will require breaking high-grade encryption Makes me ponder what would be a good mechanism to automatically reveal a few key passwords to family and friends in the event I die.

In my case, a couple of my family members have a sealed envelope with directions on how to get access to what they'd need, or get access to find out how to access what they'd need.

Amusing that for some of us at least problem will be not that there is no digital info but rather that getting it (linking info to person) will require breaking high-grade encryption Makes me ponder what would be a good mechanism to automatically reveal a few key passwords to family and friends in the event I die.

In my case, a couple of my family members have a sealed envelope with directions on how to get access to what they'd need, or get access to find out how to access what they'd need.

Yes, but crux of problem is of static, reliable source. Deposit box? Hosted website with encrypted info? Lawfirm? Any better idea? Also, what if curiosity kills cat, i.e., some of them open envelop and visit box/bank/website/etc for info prematurely? (In that case only lawyers would be reliable, I guess.)

EDIT2: now that I thought about it, maybe I will do this. Pick two modestly long random passwords. Use one as a one-time pad to encrypt the other. Give encrypted password to family in sealed envelope with instructions on how to use it once OTP arrives. Keep OTP on a machine I control. If I do not log on for 2 months, have that send automatically OTP to family.

The man in question, Philip Welsh, was beaten to death in his own home in February. The police suspect it was not a random crime, but they're lacking in leads. Welsh led a staunchly technologically ascetic life, with no computer or cell phone to his name. His technology included an answering machine, a Smith-Corona typewriter, and a CRT TV with built-in VCR and DVD players, according to The Post.

Even with all the digital footprints we have, in the interest of privacy, some of those footprints are being erased or not even saved.

And although I know I'm going to be downvoted to hell for saying it, for all that people are against geotagging and logging of electronic communications, I'm afraid for things like this there really can be a use. A friend of mine was murdered last week after meeting someone through one of the phone-based dating apps. If the company had geotagged internally the messages (as I'm sure already some do with IP addresses), it might be a lot easier to track down the killer or at least trace a few of the final moments. With just time stamps, it's going to require coordinating the data with the phone company who has far less precise data.

I fully recognize I'm thinking about this a bit emotionally right now, but I think for certain applications there ought to be ways to properly balance the privacy and security (maybe in the case of this app, archiving the internally tagged data offline, so it could only be accessed in when approached by investigators with court orders).

"It's not just millennials who do this though: a 31-year-old man posted photos of his murdered wife on Facebook, and text messages were featured in the Pistorius and Trayvon Martin murder trials."

I was pretty sure people currently between their late teens and early 30s are millennials...

I always thought the definition of millennial was that you turned 18 within a few years of the millennium, so a 31-year-old (born 1982 or 1983, therefore 17-18 in 2000) would be the definition of millennial. But apparently the number's recently been changed because every recent article I've read on generations puts the millennial as mid-80s, and us early-80s babies are stuck in Gen X. Slate actually had a very annoyed article, by an author who was absolutely incensed that most of the people cited in an NYTimes piece on her generation were mid-30s. She was quite convinced those old fuddy-dudies had NOTHING to do with her special generation. Casey Johnston graduated college in 2009, so she's probably 27 or so right now.

For the record I'd put the border between GenX and Gen Y/Millennials in the late 70s. But what do I know, according to spellcheck it took me three times to properly spell "millennial" every single time I typed it in this post. Damn double consonants and ambiguous vowel sounds.

Wow; knowing that murderers would be so obvious with their Facebook statuses (even just by being cryptic, with murderous undertones) lends a lot more credence to that crime-prevention feature in Watch Dogs. The "23% likely to be a victim" subhead under a pedestrian during one of their gameplay demos made me think "Psh. Yeah right. Blame/tag the victim."

Oh, and just to help unsure I'm not viewed as a marketing shill: I think the game's inclusion of so much violence is unnecessary, and I have no interest whatsoever in buying it. It just happens to be pretty topical.

If there is no physical evidence from the perpetrator, this will be a difficult case to solve and get a conviction. The investigators will be relying on the stupidity of the perpetrator to convict themselves by bragging on Facebook, etc.

The lack of digital information about the victim makes it harder to reconstruct his movements in the day(s) before his murder. But since most people follow the same habits that is not impossible to reconstruct. Assuming he was found at the crime scene the valuable digital footprint is the perpetrator's such as phone location information.

A not insignificant portion of violent criminals end up caught because of their big mouths.

Edit: That's Blank Reg, a semi-regular character on Max Headroom. The Blanks were people who purposely (and illegally) lived off the grid. Edison Carter did a story about them, and they became one of his sources and in one episode they gave him shelter when his identity had been erased.

Even with all the digital footprints we have, in the interest of privacy, some of those footprints are being erased or not even saved.

And although I know I'm going to be downvoted to hell for saying it, for all that people are against geotagging and logging of electronic communications, I'm afraid for things like this there really can be a use. A friend of mine was murdered last week after meeting someone through one of the phone-based dating apps. If the company had geotagged internally the messages (as I'm sure already some do with IP addresses), it might be a lot easier to track down the killer or at least trace a few of the final moments. With just time stamps, it's going to require coordinating the data with the phone company who has far less precise data.

I fully recognize I'm thinking about this a bit emotionally right now, but I think for certain applications there ought to be ways to properly balance the privacy and security (maybe in the case of this app, archiving the internally tagged data offline, so it could only be accessed in when approached by investigators with court orders).

Not downvoting you, but I dont think this justifies logging of communications. Basically, the lack of information is information in itself - if you ask a question and they dont give a response, that tells you something.

The guy didnt have a mobile phone, facebook, twitter, whatever. Not going to go back to look at what was listed, as the point is the same. If he doesnt have those, then it just limits where to look, nothing more.

If he knew the attacker, then its someone he knew physically, pretty simple. Someone from work, or an interest group, through hobbies, regular hangouts, that sort of thing. If he didnt know the attacker, there should be signs and leads somewhere. Maybe hidden somewhat, but somewhere.

There is no need for geotagging and logging, as it wouldnt help in this situation - how would it help here? There is enough digital evidence already that they can use, as per the detectives comments that they have come to rely on it, that you dont need any more. It starts becoming an invasion of privacy.

All this means is they have to do things the old fashioned way. Ironic, given the lack of modern stuff this guy has And obviously harder given the lack of any other physical evidence.

EDIT2: now that I thought about it, maybe I will do this. Pick two modestly long random passwords. Use one as a one-time pad to encrypt the other. Give encrypted password to family in sealed envelope with instructions on how to use it once OTP arrives. Keep OTP on a machine I control. If I do not log on for 2 months, have that send automatically OTP to family.

Until your family decides that "well, I guess he won't need that computer anymore" and turns it off, or the police seize it to look for evidence, and then you're not on the network...

Solution: run it as a cron job on a shell account you rent from somewhere...

Even with all the digital footprints we have, in the interest of privacy, some of those footprints are being erased or not even saved.

And although I know I'm going to be downvoted to hell for saying it, for all that people are against geotagging and logging of electronic communications, I'm afraid for things like this there really can be a use. A friend of mine was murdered last week after meeting someone through one of the phone-based dating apps. If the company had geotagged internally the messages (as I'm sure already some do with IP addresses), it might be a lot easier to track down the killer or at least trace a few of the final moments. With just time stamps, it's going to require coordinating the data with the phone company who has far less precise data.

I fully recognize I'm thinking about this a bit emotionally right now, but I think for certain applications there ought to be ways to properly balance the privacy and security (maybe in the case of this app, archiving the internally tagged data offline, so it could only be accessed in when approached by investigators with court orders).

Not downvoting you, but I dont think this justifies logging of communications. […] There is no need for geotagging and logging, as it wouldnt help in this situation - how would it help here?

Oh, I wasn't saying it would necessarily help in this case. Just that it absolutely would help in the case of my friend, because at the moment there are absolutely no leads (obviously his murder is unrelated to this one). I'm certainly not advocating for mandating the collection, but certainly being smart about it. You have a geolocation-based dating app for people's phone, it just seems like it'd help your users out in the event something goes wrong. Sort of like how Craigslist will anonymize e-mails between users, but internally keeps track of stuff just in case (at least, I'd hope if I go to sell something through craigslist and something goes wrong, they'd provide — having been presented a warrant — information that might help solve the case).

EDIT2: now that I thought about it, maybe I will do this. Pick two modestly long random passwords. Use one as a one-time pad to encrypt the other. Give encrypted password to family in sealed envelope with instructions on how to use it once OTP arrives. Keep OTP on a machine I control. If I do not log on for 2 months, have that send automatically OTP to family.

Until your family decides that "well, I guess he won't need that computer anymore" and turns it off, or the police seize it to look for evidence, and then you're not on the network...

Solution: run it as a cron job on a shell account you rent from somewhere...

That is what I meant by 'static' source. It has to stay there, unchanged, no matter what. So anything in home is of course out, it could be stolen in case of burglary or destroyed if it is natural disaster or if house is burned down. Problem with renting CPU elsewhere is that there is a small chance that company folds just after I die and then what? This is why I would love to hear what surefire way(s) others came up with. In movies it is always a solicitor or your father's buddy who gives you that special box/bag/notebook/watch/etc he wanted you to have... But what if he and your Pa pop off together? Gosh, is that it, everything points to hiring lawyers

If the man lived so frugally, where did his money go? Savings or life insurance - who stands to gain from his death

If he had a TV with built in VCR *and* DVD players, he probably had a whole lot of movies, and that's where his money went. Really. A CRT TV with built-in VCR and DVD players? I didn't even know something like that existed, and I bet they were state-of-the-art when they did.

If the man lived so frugally, where did his money go? Savings or life insurance - who stands to gain from his death

If he had a TV with built in VCR *and* DVD players, he probably had a whole lot of movies, and that's where his money went. Really. A CRT TV with built-in VCR and DVD players? I didn't even know something like that existed, and I bet they were state-of-the-art when they did.